


The One Thing Stronger Than the Whiskey

by kennagirl



Series: The Opposite of What We Planned [4]
Category: Glee
Genre: Fights, M/M, Secrets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-11
Updated: 2012-10-11
Packaged: 2017-11-15 22:19:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/532388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kennagirl/pseuds/kennagirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>May 2016: Nothing is ever all sunshine and daisies.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The One Thing Stronger Than the Whiskey

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Day 4 of Kurtbastian Week, fighting.

“It’s late.”

Sebastian sighed as he shut the front door.  “I know.”

“You come home at one in the morning, three hours after your shift is supposed to be over, and all you say is ‘I know’?”

“I got tied up at work,” he explained, tucking his keys back into his pocket.  He had an opening shift in the morning and only so many pairs of black slacks to wear with the uniform green button down.  Nothing spilled on him that night so he’d be able to get another wear out of those pants, much to Kurt’s chagrin.

Speaking of his boyfriend, Kurt was standing at their tiny kitchen sink, determinedly not looking at Sebastian.  “You got tied up.”

Clearly, he was unimpressed.

“Yes, Janelle was supposed to close but she called in sick this afternoon and Doug asked me to stick around to cover duties.”

“And you couldn’t call me?”

“I told you, the last five people who got caught with their phones out while they were on the clock were fired on the spot.”  He pulled his phone out of his pocket and waved it around.  “There’s no three strikes.  And we can’t afford for me to lose this job now.”  He set it on the table next to the door.

“I know.”  While their parents were perfectly okay with floating rent and spending money their way while they were in school, it had been understood that graduation was the cutoff and they’d have to take care of themselves.  “But that doesn’t stop me from worrying that you got mugged or jumped or something and you’re bleeding in an alley somewhere.”

“It’s half a block walk to the subway stop and another half a block home after I get off,” he said as he rooted around in the refrigerator for some food.  “All of it’s well-lit and in safe neighborhoods.  What the hell could happen to me?”

“Well I don’t fucking know!”  Kurt slammed the mug he had been washing onto the counter and whirled around to face him.  “Excuse me for caring.  It’s not like I’m supposed to have an opinion on my boyfriend, who I love, wandering around the city late at night and working way more hours than he should.  I know you said you’d be picking up more shifts at the restaurant after graduation while you wait to hear back from companies, but this is ridiculous.”

That put him on his guard.  He carefully shut the fridge door.  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means that you spend all your time at work or looking for work.”

Sebastian scoffed.  “You’re one to talk.  You’ve spent more nights on Finn and Rachel’s couch in the past two months than you have in our bed.”

“I’m surprised you realized seeing as you’re never here either.”

“I’m trying to pay bills.  You’re the one working for nothing all day with that stupid start-up designer.”

“Jim pays me.”

“Jim doesn’t pay you shit, and what he does pay you is because he likes your ass.”  They had talked about it before, but it still really bugged him.

“At least I don’t actually flaunt my ass for a couple extra bucks in tips.”

“You know what?  Fuck you, Hummel.”  Sebastian turned on his heel and walked to the door.  “Just… fuck you.”  He made sure to slam the door behind him as hard as he could before he sprinted down the flight of stairs to the street.

It was still warm outside, so he tucked his hands in his pockets and walked down the street.  He could feel his keys, which was good, but not his phone, which was bad.  When he remembered it’s place on the little entry table, he almost went back, but thought better of it.  If he went back now, he and Kurt would just get into it again and they needed time to cool off.

It was far from the first time they had fought, even since they had gotten together.  But it hurt Sebastian more than usual this time.  He admitted sometimes he flirted and put on a bit of a show for customers, but he was working a less than minimum wage job and those tips made a difference.  The way Kurt had thrown that back in his face, combined with the plans he’d had for the night before Janelle had called in sick.

It was, simply put, a shit storm.

Around the corner from their apartment was a little hole-in-the-wall lesbian bar that they visited frequently.  It was a nice quiet place to just get a drink and maybe a bite to eat.  The staff of JR’s were wary when they first showed up.  Apparently they’d had problems in the past with men coming in who thought the clientele just needed a good dicking to straighten them out.  Then the night manager Miriam saw them, proclaimed them to be her “new adorable pet gay boys,” and things were mostly smooth sailing after that.

Kurt still got into the occasional fight with a patron over her clothing choices.

Sebastian pushed the solid door open.  He was met with dim lights and a soft country song from the jukebox in the corner.  The place was pretty empty in the middle of the week, so he had a straight shot to the bar where he ordered a Jack and coke.  The bartender, a new girl whose name he couldn’t remember, smiled at him and informed him she’d have to get a new bottle from the back.  He waved her off and was content to enjoy the relative silence.

“Where’s your better half?”

He rolled his eyes.  “Probably still at home.”

“Why didn’t you bring him with you?”

“I don’t know, Miriam,” he snapped.  “Maybe because he just accused me of whoring myself out at work for tips.”

“Honey, I’ve visited you at your work,” the woman with her hair in a tight brunette bun reminded him.  “You kinda do.”

“Yeah, but he’s my boyfriend, he’s supposed to accept this kind of shit about me.”

“I’m sure he does.”

“Doesn’t seem like it.”  He lit up when the new girl set his drink in front of him, but pouted when Miriam snatched it away and downed it herself.  “You can’t just take drinks from a paying customer.”

“I’m not,” she said.  “I’m doing a friend a favor.  Now you can sit here as long as you like, but I’m not sending you home drunk when you’re pissed at Kurt.  It’ll just makes things worse and I’m not gonna stand for that shit.  You two love each other, right?”

“Of course.”  Questioning that was the farthest thing from his mind.

“Then take my advice.  Think about it, go home sober, and talk it out.  That boy’s probably worried sick over you.  I have half a mind to call him.”

“Please don’t.”  Sebastian felt defeated now, because he knew she had a point, but he still had a little ground to hold.  “I just need a little space and if you call him he’ll come down here and yell at me.”

He could see the battle waging in her eyes.  “Fine.  But not one drink.  I’ll get you a slice of pizza though.”

“Thanks.”  He stared at the bar, scratched from one too many pairs of boots dancing on it.  When a plate slid in front of his vision, he asked for a glass of water as well.  He started eating, not really tasting but knowing he needed the nourishment.

There wasn’t really much to think about.  They knew each other well, sometimes too well, and they knew exactly which buttons to push to get a reaction.  Kurt had been worried, Sebastian hadn’t, which upset Kurt, so he lashed out.  It had happened before and it was bound to happen again.  He just needed time.

Before he knew it, the pizza was gone.  The bartender, who Sebastian finally remembered was named Lindsey, took his ten with instructions to keep the change.  He left the bar with a nod to Miriam.  The only question remaining was whether Kurt was still upset as well.

The knob turned when Sebastian tested it, which meant that Kurt was most likely still home.  He was proven right when he opened the door and had his arms full of crying boyfriend within seconds.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I don’t know why I said that, I love you so much, please don’t leave.”

“Shh, babe.”  He hated seeing Kurt upset like this, so he just held on.  ”Don’t worry, I’m not leaving.  I just went down to JR’s and Miriam bitched me out.  It’s obvious which one of us is her favorite.”  Kurt chuckled wetly at that.  “And I said some things I shouldn’t have too, so I’m sorry.”

“I just worry.”

“I know you do,” Sebastian said, caressing his neck gently.

“And most people would probably have this elaborate theory about you cheating and these late nights are you seeing your other boyfriend,” he was speaking very quickly, “but I keep thinking about what happens if some guy follows you home from the restaurant because he realized how unfairly hot you are in that stupid uniform and he kidnapped you or cornered you in an alley or something.  And it scares me.”

That surprised him more than it should have.  “You’re not worried about me running off with some hypothetical man?”

Kurt shrugged.  “Once upon a time, yeah.  But it’s been a while since I even considered you with anyone but me.”

He couldn’t help himself.  Sebastian bent down and pressed a bruising kiss to Kurt’s lips.  Kurt was unresponsive for a moment, then threaded a hand into Sebastian’s hair to pull him closer.

The make-up sex was definitely the only part of fighting that Sebastian liked.

They made their way over to the bed, not far in the tiny studio, but far enough to have them both tripping on shoes and the half-folded laundry.  Kurt fell down on top of the bed and Sebastian almost pounced on top of him.  Instead, he went to dig in the jacket pocket of a suit he liked that Kurt refused to touch.

“So, there’s a reason I’ve been working a lot of shifts, and it’s not just to pay the bills,” Sebastian admitted.  “I kinda took out a loan from my dad and I’m trying to pay him back.”

“A loan?”  Kurt sat up straight on the bed.  “Bas, why did you need a loan from your dad?  Are we having more trouble than you’re telling me?”

“No, nothing like that.”  He sat on the bed next to Kurt.  “It’s more of a big purchase kind of thing.”

“What kind of big purchase?”

Sebastian opened his hand and showed Kurt the little gold ring laid with diamonds.  “Engagement ring.”  Kurt gasped, eyes filling with tears.  “I know we said we’d wait until after we got out of school and got real jobs, but I was having enough trouble with the first part, so the second part would have been impossible.”  Kurt still hadn’t said anything.  Sebastian just slid the ring onto his finger.  “So, Kurt Hummel, will you marry me?”

His answer was to be pinned to the bed and kissed so hard their teeth clacked.


End file.
